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ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival 2019 - The tension is rising

The Trend of the Year: Group A

Last chance: Auctions to ride with Kleint, Demuth and Schelle

Helpers from around the World: Worldwide support for the Festival

A look at the entry list for the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival (July 18th/20th, 2019) also reveals a gradual change in the character of the vehicles taking part. In recent years, Group B cars have not featured much in live demonstrations. Their value is constantly increasing and the supply of spare parts for them is becoming more and more difficult. Therefore, the owners often park these cars and hold them as an investment and at least some of them can be seen in museums. For Festival fans, there is a big exception here in the Eifel since no fewer than thirty-three vehicles from the Group B era are registered. The overall trend, however, is towards Group A. "These 'everyday cars' had a bad start in 1987 when the memories of the madcap cars of Group B were still too fresh," explains Reinhard Klein (Cologne). As head of 'Slowly Sideways', the Europe-wide association of historic rally vehicle owners, he is responsible for the composition of the starting field in the Eifel Rallye Festival. "In the meantime, Group A cars are being located, pulled out, dusted down and restored from all possible sources. We can be happy about having the first great cars of this new development at the Eifel Rallye Festival".

Last chance: Buying rides for a good cause at auction.Traditionally, the Eifel Rallye Festival holds an auction of rides in rally cars with the proceeds going to a good cause. This time, half of the money will go to Lions Club Daun for its activities in the Daun region (e.g. Christmas package campaign) and half to the KinderHerz Foundation. This time there are three possibilities to take part while sitting in the 'hot seat'. Stuttgart's Wolf-Dieter Ihle has made it possible to go in a VW Golf GTI 16V DRM Group A alongside former European champion Jochi Kleint and also as co-pilot of two-time German rally champion Harald Demuth in an Audi 80 Group 4. Ihle - who owns both cars - also traditionally doubles-up the proceeds of the auction. The third ride can be bought at auction with Grip presenter, Niki Schelle, who is driving a Lancia Delta S4 from the 1986 World Championship season. This is one of the few and increasingly rare opportunities to take a seat in a Group B racer. The information about the auctions can be found here:https://www.ebay.de/itm/264385007122 (Kleint)https://www.ebay.de/itm/264386192088 (Demuth)https://www.ebay.de/itm/264386907894 (Schelle).

Helpers from around the World: Worldwide support for the FestivalNot only are the cars and drivers coming from 'around the world', but also the fans are becoming more and more international. The pre-orders of programmes and tickets come mainly from abroad, and almost all of Europe is represented. However, the organizer could not fulfil two inquiries since shipping material to Japan and Israel would probably have taken longer than the arrival in Daun of the fans themselves.

The organizers of the big event in the Vulkaneifel can also count on great support. Eleven people from the MC Baltic Neustadt e.V. in the ADAC are coming from the far north to Daun for the week of the festival. The troupe around organizer Jürgen von Schassen (Neustadt/Holstein) consists of licensed officials and trained sports marshals. "We were looking for new goals and would therefore like to support the Festival with our possibilities," explained von Schassen. "It is particularly nice that, in addition to the 'old hands', some of our young club members are also coming along since they want to experience this festival of historic rallying sport and also to help".

Helpers of the Festival have been coming from all over Europe for quite some time, but one enquiry created some surprise. Dan and Rosie White have been active in rallying for fifty years and come from Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. In the 1970s, Dan White was head of stage safety at an event of the Australian Rally Championship, in 2004 he was in charge of the Australian stage for the last edition of the London-Sydney Marathon and, together with his wife, is also active in the organisation of the current Australian WRC event. White, by his own account, the 'young at heart Australian senior', contacted the ERF organisation and said: "We have discovered petrol in our blood and, most recently, our fondness for historic rally events, so we're coming to Daun. But we don't just want to be there and watch, we would love to be right in the middle of it and help out. We also want to meet our old friend Stig Blomqvist, who took part in a series of our Southern Cross Rallies in Australia in the 1970s". This really unusual application from helpers was met with great enthusiasm by the organisers. "We are very excited to be going to meet Dan and Rosie in person," says organisation manager, Otmar Anschütz (Daun). "We will certainly find a suitable opportunity for both of them to support us, but also at the same time to be able to enjoy the Festival".